How to Brine a Turkey

Who wouldn’t want to eat a tender, moist, and flavorful turkey for their Thanksgiving feast? Brining is a salt marinade which causes the meat tissues to absorb water and flavorings by breaking down the proteins. This is why brining is a popular method of preparing a Thanksgiving turkey because any moisture loss while roasting still produces a juicy and flavorful turkey.

It’s important to note that you do not want to brine a kosher or self-basting bird. Otherwise the turkey will be too salty.

Most brining recipes call for a gallon of water or stock and a cup of salt and sugar each. From there, people often add apple juice, vinegar, whiskey, and other aromatics. I like to keep things simple by using ingredients I have in the pantry.

A few weeks ago I brined a turkey for two days for my father’s birthday. Everyone commented on how juicy and tender the turkey was. Dad was happy, I was happy, and I decided brining is the only way I’ll ever prepare turkey again.

I thought I would share with you how I brined the turkey.

Using a thawed turkey, I removed the giblets and neck from the inside. Next, I rinsed the outside and inside of the bird thoroughly. Then, I set the turkey in a rimmed roasting pan and pat it dry with paper towels.

I placed an oven roasting bag in a large soup pot with the opening of the bag over lapping the rim of the pot, carefully placing the turkey in the bag.

***Many people will tell you to brine your turkey in heavy duty garbage bags, Home Depot style pails, and XXL size ziplock bags. I’ve read that garbage bags shouldn’t be used because they are not made from food-grade plastic. Unless you have a second refrigerator, I don’t see how a large pail can fit in a family refrigerator. I also had a hard time finding the XXL ziplock bags. So what I decided the most practical thing to to do was buy poultry oven roasting bags I knew would fit my turkey. I also emptied out, washed, and sanitized the bottom meat drawer of the refrigerator. I found this was a good way to brine my turkey with the least amount of hassle, taking up the least amount of space, and kept the turkey nice and cold.

I slowly poured the brine into the bag and tied a loose knot.

I carefully transferred the turkey to the (cleaned and sanitized) meat drawer from the refrigerator with the knot facing upwards. I marinated the turkey for 1 day before turning the turkey over so the top side was bottom, and the bottom was top. This way both halves of the turkey had ample time to marinate. I basted the upper side of the turkey once during the process.

When it was time to roast the bird, I rinsed the turkey again, including the inner cavity. I patted the turkey dry before lathering with seasoned butter before cooking. This is how I brined the bird and highly recommend you do the same for moist, flavorful turkey!

*Notes:

-Someone suggested in the comments that you should brine your bird for 1 hour for every pound. I think this is a good rule of thumb but I have brined for longer with good results too.

-I’m getting asked a lot if a person can brine a pre-seasoned turkey. Technically speaking, experts say not to. However, I have and I cut the brine time down in half with no problems of excess salt. I am not recommending you do this but just sharing my own experience. Your mileage may vary (YMMV).

-The “things” floating in the picture are not anchovies or sardines as people have mistaken them for in the comments. They’re ice cubes. 🙂

If you want a moist, flavorful turkey, brining a turkey is a great way to accomplish this. This turkey brine recipe is so easy and using the refrigerator door is a great way to prepare the turkey before Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

12 cups water, divided

1 cup kosher salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sage

2 tablespoons thyme

2 tablespoons rosemary

1 tablespoon pepper

4 cups ice

Instructions

Bring 4 cups of water to a simmering boil. Add salt and sugar. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Turn off the heat. Stir in 8 cups cold water, apple cider vinegar, sage, thyme, rosemary, pepper, and ice. The brine is ready to be used.

Remove giblets and neck from the cavity. Rinse the outside and inside of a thawed turkey. Using paper towels, pat the turkey dry. Complete submerge the turkey in a large soup pot bigger than the bird and cover with a lid. Allow the turkey to marinate for 12 hours for a small turkey (8-10 lbs) and up to a full day for a bigger bird. (Update: 11/27/13 - You may need to flip your bird half way through the brine process) Rinse turkey and pat dry before adding additional seasoning, butter, or oil in preparation for roasting.

Notes

*It’s important to reiterate not to use a self basting, pre-seasoned, or kosher turkey. Otherwise the turkey will be too salty.

Comments

I’m so glad I was able to find this particular recipe again. I used this brine recipe in 2012, and it was the best turkey I’d ever tasted. Unfortunately, I lost the recipe and couldn’t remember the appropriate proportions of the ingredients, so I tried an already prepared brine mixtures. None of them compared favorably to Alice’s recipe.

Best idea by far! I’d never even heard of brining a turkey until a friend suggested it. I actually had bought a turkey after Thanksgiving last year and decided to experiment…..well I must say that the directions were clear and easy to follow and the turkey turned out fabulous! I had everyone that I invited over telling me how moist and tender the bird was therefore, I’m completely satisfied with the idea of brining <3 Thank you so much for your easy step recipe Alice!

Sorry, I just noticed you included self-basting turkeys in your do not brine list. I guess that means there is no way seasoning the bird other than a rub on and under the skin or an injector (don’t have)?

Hi Dianna,
People have stated that you shouldn’t brine a self basted turkey, but I have the last couple times I’ve roasted them and have never had an issue. The brine doesn’t make the turkey salty, per se, more than it enhances the turkey flavor. I’m brining a self-basted turkey today and have no problems with it.

i just started my brine last night and i am using a brinding bag however i used two gallons of water and the turkey is not fully immeresed in the brine. i do have it laying on the breast side down but i was woundering should i add more water?

Hi Kirk, You can turn it over tonight. This is what I’m doing. Or you can add more water. I placed my turkey in a brine bag last night, breast side down. I am going to turn it over tonight. Then tomorrow during the day, I am going to flip it back over. This is what I’ve done over the years and it’s worked well.

Hello I just found your recipe yesterday and I am very eager to try it !
I do have a question however, can I use the same recipes(brining and roasting)
For a 10lb house of raeford bone in young turkey breast?

Hi,
I took my turkey out of the freezer Saturday and have been letting it defrost in the fridge since. However, when I went to start the brining process today my turkey was still pretty frozen. It’s been sitting in the sink for the past 4 hours and I’m not sure if it’s completely defrosted on the inside… Should I just wait to brine it tomorrow or go ahead and brine it now?
Thanks,
Sarah

Hi Sarah,
I would start brining now. If it is still frozen, I would thaw out on your counter for a few hours in the brine and then back in the fridge. Make sure to take out the turkey 1-2 hours before roasting to allow the bird to come to room temperature before cooking.

Hi, you can stuff a brined turkey but the cooking time will be much longer. Most people do not like stuffing a brined turkey because they worry the stuffing will be too salty as the turkey releases its juices. The texture is more dense, too. It is all personal preference. I do not stuff my turkey.

Hi there, wondering what the purpose of the vinegar is in this recipe and if you can taste it or not. My sister is extremely vinegar phobic and I’m wondering if you might recommend replacing it with a different acid such as lemon.

We are using the trashcan method to cook our turkey. I’ve used this in the past and the turkey has been very juicy already. This year I was thinking about brining…do you think I can use a brined turkey with this method? More info on the method at thetrashcanturkey.com

Hi Sandra, I’m not sure if you would need to since you are deep-frying. However, I would definitely season before placing in the fryer. I know people who’ve had much success injecting a liquid seasoning into their turkey before deep-frying.

Hello, I am Hispanic and we use different seasonings like adobo, sazon, & sofrito, can I still use those seasonings during or after brining? Also I don’t have apple cider vinegar, can use I use white vinegar?

Ugh, I first saw 4 cups and my pot was a little small for the additional 8 cups of water (managed 7) for making the brine. Then I kept it on simmer and poured the brine over the turkey in the bag in a stock pot but I did add about 3-4 cups of ice over it and stuck it in the fridge right away (I hope that’s okay). Tied the bag and left the knot up. But, it is standing in the pot (sticking out a bit couldn’t cover). I don’t have room in the crisper. I will turn it over before I go to bed. It is a small turkey 9 1/2 lbs. Wish me luck!

It was amazing! Everyone loved it. I confess, I didn’t do much seasoning other than a little butter and some fresh herbs on top. I was running late and couldn’t bother lifting the skin and doing additional seasoning. I stuck a bunch of fresh herbs and and cut up an apple and put it in the cavity. And, I finally found the giblets after cooking the turkey. I looked and looked, I don’t know how I missed it. But, I made the gravy with a turkey neck stock and pan drippings. Although there wasn’t much liquid in the bottom. I’ll worry about that next year. Definitely the juiciest turkey I have ever had. Thank you for sharing!

I brine mine in an ice chest with water and the other ingredients and with more ice cubes to keep it fridge cold, usually because I’ve forgotten turkey bags or our fridge is too full this time of year.

I tried your recipe for the first time last Thanksgiving. I told my girlfriends mom I would cook the turkey last year. She said I doubt the turkey would be great. Well I am not much of a cook and your directions were easy to follow and her mom admitted it was the best tasting turkey she had ever eaten! Thankyoufor making me look like I knew what I was doing. I will never cook a turkey any other way!

Hi Scott,
That is an awesome testimony of why brining is the key to great tasting turkey. Best tasting turkey, huh? I think you just earned yourself the job of making the turkey every year. Thanks for stopping by.